Friday removed the detachable phone and kept it with him.
Then he checked the gear they had onboard. There was basic climbing equipment but no cold-weather clothing. That might not be a problem, however. He had gone through Apu Kumar's things. There were some heavy coats. There were hats and gloves so those would not be a problem. His biggest concern was oxygen. If he and Captain Nazir had to do a lot of climbing at higher altitudes exhaustion would be a factor.
Perhaps Striker was bringing some of that gear with them.
Friday would not know that or the location of the target area itself until he talked to Bob Herbert or Hank Lewis.
In the meantime, Friday reviewed maps with Captain Nazir to familiarize himself with the region. Apu was with them in the small kitchen area of his farmhouse, adding what firsthand knowledge he had of the region. He used to climb the foothills when he was younger.
Friday plotted a course from the Srinagar bazaar to the explosion in the mountains. He also mapped a route from the farm to the Himalayan blast site. There had been more than enough time for both the cell and the man from this farm to have reached the mountain site before the detonation.
The question was where they would move from there. The cell only had to cover roughly twenty miles to go from the mountains to the Pakistani border. But they were a mountainous twenty miles that included both the line of control and the brutal Siachin Glacier. Reaching up to some eighteen thousand feet, the glacier would be difficult to climb under the best of circumstances. Tired and presumably pursued from the ground and possibly the air, the Pakistanis would need a miracle to get across.
The helicopter phone beeped while Friday was looking at topographic charts of the region. Nazir answered. It was Bob Herbert and Hank Lewis. He passed the phone to Friday.
'We've found the cell,' Herbert said.
'Where are they?' Friday asked eagerly. He bent over the charts that were spread on the table.
'I have seven to ten tactical pilotage charts each of the Muzaffarabad border region, the Srinagar border region, and the area from Srinagar to Kargil.'
'They're in the Srinagar border region,' Herbert said.
'Just outside of Jaudar.'
'What are the coordinates?' Friday asked as he went to that set and began flipping through the charts, looking for the village.
'Ron, we want you to go at once to thirty-four degrees, thirty minutes north, seventy-five degrees east,' Lewis said.
'That's Jaudar,' Friday said, looking at the map.
'Is that where the cell is? In the village?' 'No,' Lewis said.
'That's where you'll rendezvous with Striker.'
Friday stood up.
'Gentlemen, I have a chopper here. I can be there in under an hour.
Striker won't be landing for at least four hours. I might be able to get to the cell by then.'
'So would your partner,' Lewis reminded him.
'And?' Friday pressed.
'We haven't finished our security check on the Black Cat,' Lewis said.
'We can't take the risk that he'll turn the Pakistanis over to his people.'
'That won't happen,' Friday assured the new NSA chief.
'I'll make sure of it.' 'You can't guarantee that,' Lewis said.
'We also agree that Mr. Kumar should go with you and we can't be certain of his actions either. Mr. Herbert and I have discussed this and we're in agreement. You will meet Striker in Jaudar.
They will have up-to-the-minute coordinates of the cell and the resources to get you and your companions into the mountains.
If anything changes, we'll let you know.'
'We're wasting time,' Friday protested.
'I could probably be in and out by the time Striker arrives.'
'I admire your enthusiasm,' Herbert said.
'But the leader of the cell is cagey. They've been moving in shadows and beneath overhangs wherever possible. We don't know for certain what weapons they're carrying. They may have a rocket launcher. If you come after them in an Indian chopper they will probably shoot you down.'
'If you tell us where they are we can circle wide and intercept them,' Friday pointed out.
'There's also a chance that a Pakistani aircraft might try to slip in and rescue the cell,' Herbert said.
'We don't want to precipitate a firefight with an Indian aircraft. That could give the Indians even more ammunition to launch a major offensive.'
Friday squeezed the phone. He wished he could strangle the deskbound bureaucrat. He did not understand field personnel.
None of them did. The best field ops did not like sitting still. And the best of the best were able to improvise
